General information: a guide

We will do our utmost to make you feel comfortable and safe during the festival, but a lot depends on our cooperation with you – attendees of the American Film Festival. Below you’ll find a guide to help you find your way around the festival.

Opening hours

Festival center

November 5-11, 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

• pass-holder costumer service (pass pick-up)
• guest & industry service center
• information

Ticket office

November 5-11, from 9:00 AM till the start of the last screening

• festival ticket office
• sale of festival tote bag & clothes from NH collection

Booking system opens at 8:30 AM, as per usual

Booking films during the American Film Festival will take place at the usual time: beginning from 5th November, 8:30 AM you can reserve seats for shows on 5th and 6th November and from 6th November, 8:30 AM for the current and following day (e.g. on November 9th, you can reserve seats for shows on that day and November 10th). 

Practice makes perfect: booking system demo

Each festival attendee will receive their login in advance, which they can use to log on to the demo version of the booking system to practice "clicking" on screenings earlier.

Electronic ID: reservations and admission to screenings

A printed ID is not required to make a reservation. You can also enter the screening without it – just log in to the americanfilmfestival.pl website and show your electronic ID in front of the entrance (screen or its downloaded version). Remember to brighten the screen and ensure good quality of the screen / file before presenting the ID.

Those who indicated their desire to use a plastic badge during the purchase of a pass or accreditation can pick them up with a photo ID from 9:00 AM on November 5th at the Festival Center and from 9:00 AM in the following days.

Purchasing tickets online is recommended

We encourage you to purchase tickets through our website – the entire sales system is intuitive and easy to use. Festival box offices open on November 7, 9 AM at the New Horizons Cinema. Prior to that, the only way to purchase tickets is online at nowehoryzonty.pl.

Accompanying events

Festival is more than only movies! In addition to film screenings, several excellent events await you during this year's American Film Festival: Election Night Studio (in Polish only), discussions as part of the Reading America series, organized jointly with Czarne, Znak Agora, Wrocławski Dom Literatury and “Ksiażki. Magazyn do czytania” (free admission; in Polish only), as well as meetings around books at the New Horizons Cinema (in Polish only); a special screening of the film Sideways by Alexander Payne and an event called DelicioUS! – a birthday cocktail party featuring a tasting of California wines and a menu crafted by award-winning Chef Łukasz Budzik, a meeting with listeners of the Podkast Amerykański, hosted by Lukasz Pawlowski and Piotr Tarczynski (free admission; in Polish only), discussions after the screenings of The Apprentice, Oh, Canada! and Johnny Guitar (free admission; in Polish only), exhibitions Marcin Giżycki and his America and Lora Webb Nichols. I Wish I was a Yellow Dog organized in cooperation with Studio BWA Wrocław (admission free), a screening of Get Your Man directed by Dorothy Arzner with live music performed by Zuzanna Wronska & Maja Laura, VR Experience, secret screening, stand-up Group Joke Session performed by Dolly and Martyna Podwysocka (admission free; in Polish only), and birthday Silent Disco.

Audience Voting

Take part in the audience poll by voting for film screened in the Breakthrough and American Docs competitions. A QR code will be displayed in the screening room before the screening. Scan the code to launch the pool webstie and rate the film on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest). One vote per device. The link will remain active for 60 minutes after the start and 30 minutes after the end of a screening. The film with the highest average vote will receive a prize. The results of the audience poll will be announced during the award gala.

What should you know about on-site screenings?

As every year, festival attendees are bound by the same rules of participating in film screenings, which will ensure the comfort of both the audience and festival employees:

• Attendees who are late for the film screening will not be allowed to enter – the absolute principle of punctuality applies.
• The venues have unassigned seating.
• We recommend arriving in advance – the screening rooms open at least a dozen or so minutes before the screening.
• The number of printed catalogs is limited – please keep a digital version of the catalog downloaded on your mobile device.
• We recommend that you follow the festival's website. As the event is also attended by people with festival passes, for whom a separate pool of seats is provided, individual places often return for sale. If there are no tickets available for the selected film, on a given day, chances are that individual seats may be up for grabs!
• Just after the screening begins, there is one more chance to get into a sold-out show – check out Open Ticket, which allows you to take advantage of unused seats in the hall. You can read more about the OT card here.

An accessible festival

American Film Festival seeks to expand its accessibility initiatives. In collaboration with the Katarynka Foundation, the festival organizes screenings of films with audio description, SDH subtitles, and assistant support. This year’s accessible screenings include screening of Familiar Touch by Sarah Friedland (New Horizons Cinema, November 11th, 4:00 PM, screening room #3).

Our accessibility efforts encompass:

• Online festival access, which allows people with mobility disabilities, neurodivergent, and other challenges to attend the event from home,
• Adapted facilities, ensuring festival venues meet the needs of individuals with mobility disabilities and wheelchair users,
• Volunteer training – educating volunteers to assist people with disabilities.

For wheelchair-accessible seating, please contact the assistance department (pomoc@nowehoryzonty.pl) to reserve a seat, as these are excluded from sale.

For attendant support or advance seating requests, please contact Alicja Kowalska (alicja.kowalska@nowehoryzonty.pl).

Note: American Film Festival spans several venues and screening rooms. The high number of spectators means that the festival venues can sometimes be crowded and noisy. If you are neurodivergent, please take these circumstances into account when attending a screening.

Suit down, or the festival cloakroom

The New Horizons Cinema is welcoming and warm, so if you want to leave your jacket or suitcase: please visit the cloakroom, located on cinema’s 2nd floor. It will be open from 3:00 PM on November 5 and from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM on the remaining days of the festival (November 6-11).

Note: the cloakroom staff may refuse to accept an item in case of lack of space. The staff is not responsible for items left in the cloakroom. Items unclaimed by 9:00 PM will be able to be picked up only the next day.

Festival merchandise

During the 15th American Film Festival at the festival ticket offices you’ll have a chance to buy festival gadgets (including attendees’ favorite souvenir – the festival tote bag & clothing from NH's collection – a crewneck sweatshirt, hoodie or t-shirt). Publications of the New Horizons Association awaits you at the New Horizons Cinema bookstore – Tajne Komplety.